Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Training to Pierce the Hand Buddha lon mbrane
The sky over Fox Mountain, as usual, was shrouded in clouds.
Bai Mo sat in a sled carried by the fox apprentices, arriving at the edge of the dicinal field. Accompanied by dozens of fox apprentices, he observed the Hand Buddha lon seedlings.
"How can this be?
"Is it normal?"
In the dicinal field, small Hand Buddha lons had already grown, each covered by a layer of white mbrane, enveloping the lon entirely. As far as the eye could see, the entire field was covered in white.
Bai Mo stepped down from the sled, squatted forward, and carefully observed the white mbrane. He saw it was quite solid-looking, semi-transparent, with forked textures on the surface like blood vessels.
Dozens of fox apprentices gathered around, poking their furry heads forward, eyes wide, to look at the mbrane. Although they didn’t understand much, their master was looking, so they wanted to look too.
Bai Mo extended a finger to poke the mbrane wrapping the Hand Buddha lon. The texture was soft, with a rough surface, extrely tough, like old cowhide.
Dozens of fox apprentices gathered around, stretching out their furry paws to poke at the mbrane. Even though they couldn’t figure out the texture, they wanted to poke because their master did.
Bai Mo stood up, furrowing his brow in thought.
There is very little information about the Hand Buddha lon, and there’s no literature on its growth and cultivation. One can only rely on exploration. Bai Mo released his Divine Sense, thoroughly investigating the Hand Buddha lon, its body, mbrane, its internal veins, seeds, the root system beneath the earth... and deduced based on past experience growing dicinal herbs...
After a while, Bai Mo furrowed his brow.
"There’s really an issue!
"This mbrane seems to be a self-protection chanism of wild Hand Buddha lon, using a layer of white mbrane to protect the lon from harm by various birds and beasts.
"But... this mbrane will compete with the lon for nutrients. If we let the mbrane grow unchecked, the lon might not make it... We need to tear off these mbranes."
Cultivating dicinal herbs is like this... without guidance from literature, without referential experience, relying entirely on observation and deduction, on feeling one’s way forward.
The fox apprentices nearby stood upright, wagging their tails, front paws held to their chests, nodding in deep agreent.
Although they didn’t understand the principles... the master was always right.
In previous years, many situations like this occurred, and the master’s judgnt was never wrong.
Bai Mo’s Divine Sense focused on observing the mbrane, discerning its subtle structure, and carefully studying its composition.
"... a very special fibrous structural composition, conventional thods can’t tear it. Scissors, teeth, and similar sharp tools won’t work.
"Moreover, fragile lons lie beneath the mbrane, and can’t handle bumps or knocks...
"If I’m not mistaken, the only weakness of this thing is... it fears stabs?"
Bai Mo crouched down, facing the mbrane of the Hand Buddha lon.
"Let
give it a try.
"Watch closely."
Dozens of fox apprentices gathered around, poking their furry heads forward, eyes wide.
The master extended an index finger towards the mbrane, a swooshing sound like lightning, breaking through the wind, the finger went down with a "squelch" sound, piercing the mbrane and making a hole!
Then, starting from this hole, with a tearing sound, he opened up the mbrane, revealing the tender body of the Hand Buddha lon inside.
The fox apprentices nodded in agreent.
They understood!
Peach Blossom Eyes looked at a nearby Hand Buddha lon, stretched out a front paw, extended a sharp claw, aid at the mbrane, and stabbed down with a swooshing sound!
Bang!
A crisp sound.
The mbrane was dented but didn’t break!
Peach Blossom Eyes looked at its paw, then at the mbrane, dropping its eyelids slightly in dejection.
Bai Mo smiled, patting its head.
"Don’t worry, it’s not that simple, requires practice."
The other fox apprentices also stretched out their paws, and one after another, stabbed down.
Bang! Bang! Bang...
Several crisp sounds, the mbrane was dented several tis but remained intact, unbroken.
A few fox apprentices looked at their paws, then at the mbrane, dropping their eyelids slightly in dejection.
Bai Mo stood up.
"This is an excellent training exercise.
"Additionally... the window is short, it’s best to pierce and tear open all the mbranes within two days, liberate all the Hand Buddha lons."
Bai Mo looked at the dicinal field, seeing all the Hand Buddha lons wrapped in white mbranes, a dense spread of white.
"Let everyone join in and stab together."
With the master’s order, several fox apprentices raised their voices loudly.
Then, in the vast dicinal field, fiery red figures quickly rushed from between the ridges, converging here.
The dozen fox apprentices who just attended the lesson scattered and began explaining the thod to the arriving fellow apprentices. The foxes who learned then dispersed to explain the thod to more arriving apprentices... and like this, one taught ten, ten taught a hundred, a hundred taught a thousand, and soon, every one of the ten thousand fox apprentices understood.
They scattered through the dicinal field, every four or five foxes surrounding a Hand Buddha lon, attempting to pierce it.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
...
Soft crisp sounds echoed continuously in the dicinal field.
The mbrane of the Hand Buddha lons was repeatedly dented.
But none were pierced.
Bai Mo sat on the sled, feeling the wind pick up, and wrapped himself in a newly bought cashre scarf.
Indeed, fox claws are sharper, more suitable for "stabbing" than human fingers, but the fox apprentices were inexperienced. This was a good opportunity to let them learn and practice.
Bai Mo reclined comfortably on the sled, took out his tablet, and reviewed a new Pill Formula, soon imrsing himself deeply, the more he read, the more engrossed he beca...
Unaware of how much ti passed, Bai Mo, engrossed in writing and drawing, suddenly heard the joyful cheers of the fox apprentices.
"Yip! Yip! Yip!"
"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!"
"Yip! Yip! Yip!"
"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!"
Looking over, he saw not far from the ground, Black Gloves swinging its tail and nodding its head, circling a Hand Buddha lon and dancing happily.
He looked at the pierced mbrane of the Hand Buddha lon.
This youngster truly has talent!
The pierced mbrane was torn open from the breach, ripped down. The foxes in Black Gloves’ group laid it on the ground and continued stabbing with their paws.
Black Gloves finished its gleeful dance, returned to the group, gesturing with paws and communicating in fox talk, sharing experiences with fellow apprentices.
Nearby in other groups, Quanquan Hu, White Ears, and others also gathered to hear Black Gloves share its experience.
Bai Mo glanced up briefly, then lowered his head, stretched his neck, changed to a comfortable posture, and continued studying the Pill Formula.
From ti to ti, cheerful voices echoed from the dicinal field.
Throughout the vast dicinal field, the sharing of experiences in fox talk increased.
Bai Mo saved and archived the results and insights of his Pill Formula research.
He lifted his head, realizing dusk was approaching, and the sky over Fox Mountain grew darker.
Looking again at the dicinal field, all the Hand Buddha lons had their mbranes removed, revealing tender green lons.
The fox apprentices unconscious of when had returned to their own chores. Only a few dozen slow-witted apprentices remained, having not figured out how to stab, still exerting effort at the mbrane laid on the ground.
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